Tycho
11-08-2007, 05:15 PM
Maybe her parents should have called her Jenna Grievous, but...
Doctors Remove Girl's Extra Limbs (http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20071108/news_1n8india.html)
30-plus surgeons spend 24 hours operating in India
ASSOCIATED PRESS
November 8, 2007
BANGALORE, India – Doctors in southern India completed a grueling 24-hour operation yesterday on a girl born with four arms and four legs that surgeons said will give the 2-year-old a chance at a normal life.
The surgery went “wonderfully well,” said Dr. Sharan Patil, who led a team of more than 30 surgeons in the marathon procedure to remove Lakshmi's extra limbs, salvage her organs and rebuild her pelvic area.
“This girl can now lead as good a life as anyone else,” Patil said from a hospital in the southern Indian city of Bangalore. But he said Lakshmi was not out of danger. “We are still not ready to celebrate as she will be in the critical zone for the next 48 to 72 hours,” the doctor said.
Lakshmi, who has been revered by some in her village as the reincarnation of a Hindu goddess she was named for, was born joined at the pelvis to a “parasitic twin” that stopped developing in her mother's womb. The surviving fetus absorbed the limbs, kidneys and other body parts of the undeveloped fetus.
“This is a very rare occurrence,” said Dr. Doug Miniati, a pediatric surgeon at the University of California San Francisco who was not involved in the surgery. Miniati said the surgery was extremely complicated but that the girl's chances of survival were greater because she was not joined at the heart or brain.
The doctors worked through the night to remove the extra limbs and organs. By midnight, a team of neurologists had separated the fused spines while orthopedic surgeons removed most of the “parasite,” carefully identifying which organs and internal structures belonged to the girl, Patil said.
Then the team began the difficult job of reconstructing Lakshmi's lower body.
The operation included transplanting a good kidney into Lakshmi from the twin. The team also used tissue from the twin to help rebuild the pelvic area, one of the most complicated parts of the surgery, Patil said.
“Beyond our expectations, the reconstruction worked wonderfully well,” Patil said.
However, Lakshmi will have to have further treatments and possible surgery for clubbed feet before she will be able to walk, he said.
Doctors Remove Girl's Extra Limbs (http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20071108/news_1n8india.html)
30-plus surgeons spend 24 hours operating in India
ASSOCIATED PRESS
November 8, 2007
BANGALORE, India – Doctors in southern India completed a grueling 24-hour operation yesterday on a girl born with four arms and four legs that surgeons said will give the 2-year-old a chance at a normal life.
The surgery went “wonderfully well,” said Dr. Sharan Patil, who led a team of more than 30 surgeons in the marathon procedure to remove Lakshmi's extra limbs, salvage her organs and rebuild her pelvic area.
“This girl can now lead as good a life as anyone else,” Patil said from a hospital in the southern Indian city of Bangalore. But he said Lakshmi was not out of danger. “We are still not ready to celebrate as she will be in the critical zone for the next 48 to 72 hours,” the doctor said.
Lakshmi, who has been revered by some in her village as the reincarnation of a Hindu goddess she was named for, was born joined at the pelvis to a “parasitic twin” that stopped developing in her mother's womb. The surviving fetus absorbed the limbs, kidneys and other body parts of the undeveloped fetus.
“This is a very rare occurrence,” said Dr. Doug Miniati, a pediatric surgeon at the University of California San Francisco who was not involved in the surgery. Miniati said the surgery was extremely complicated but that the girl's chances of survival were greater because she was not joined at the heart or brain.
The doctors worked through the night to remove the extra limbs and organs. By midnight, a team of neurologists had separated the fused spines while orthopedic surgeons removed most of the “parasite,” carefully identifying which organs and internal structures belonged to the girl, Patil said.
Then the team began the difficult job of reconstructing Lakshmi's lower body.
The operation included transplanting a good kidney into Lakshmi from the twin. The team also used tissue from the twin to help rebuild the pelvic area, one of the most complicated parts of the surgery, Patil said.
“Beyond our expectations, the reconstruction worked wonderfully well,” Patil said.
However, Lakshmi will have to have further treatments and possible surgery for clubbed feet before she will be able to walk, he said.